Proclamation
of Maharaja Hari Singh
July 9, 1931
Legal Document No
49
TO MY BELOVED PEOPLE
From time immemorial all communities within the
State have been living on terms of closest harmony and
friendship with each other and I used to take the
greatest pride in the fact that we were happily from
all communal strife. I am, therefore, greatly pained
to see that quite recently owing to external
influences a changed and regrettable attitude is
observable in certain sections in the cities of Jammu
and Srinagar. This is greatly to be deplored. Two
unfortunate incidents which occurred recently in Jammu
city and which could not by any stretch of imagination
be associated with any action or policy of my
Government and for which the responsibility rested
solely on the persons involved have been seized upon
and widely misrepresented aside and outside the State
so as to convey to those who are not in a position to
know the true facts that the policy of my Government
is such that Islam is in danger. It is not my
intention to deal with the details of these incidents
in this message as they are being dealt with
separately. So far I have preferred that my Government
be judged by its actions alone. But numerous
representations from my loyal subjects of all sects
and creeds have reached me within the last few days to
the effect that such agitation even though at present
it Ends no response generally is calculated to promote
communal strife and might even lead to breaches of the
public peace in some cases. It has accordingly been
deemed necessary to make this formal announcement of
the policy and intention of myself and my Government
in regard to such propaganda asked communal relations
within the State generally.
As the beginning of my rule I announced to you, my
people, that my religion is justice. That announcement
has guided all my public acts and policies and I shall
always adhere to it. I have not made, and will not
permit, any discrimination against any class of my
people on the grounds of religion The humblest of my
subjects has free and direct access to me and any
grievances my people may have can be submitted by them
personally to me. Subject to tom fundamental
conditions, viz.,
- that political activities are confined within
the law of the land, and
- that no outside intervention is sought in any
shape or form.
I have no desire whatever to suppress the legitimate
requests and voice of my people whether expressed in
writing or in speech It is my intention to give
effect to these views but I am unable to do so, so
long as communal tension exists' for fear of
aggravating it. Consequently, the first essential is
that the leaders of the various communities should
take immediate action to put a stop to all political
activities tending to prevent tile re-establishment
of friendly relations between them. As soon as it is
reported to me that any community has faithfully
responded to my desire, I shall be prepared to
receive and consider most sympathetically any
re-presentation that community may desire to submit
to me.
Every person within the State is, and shall always be,
free to practice his own religion, subject to the
paramount necessity of maintaining public peace and
public order. I particularly wish to refer in this
connection to a malicious rumour now being spread that
cow killing is shortly going to be permitted. This
malicious rumour has no foundation whatever. And it
has given me great pleasure to receive from Muslim
subjects spontaneous condemnation of such an
insinuation or any other insinuation likely to injure
the religious susceptibilities of any other community.
There is no question whatever of making any change in
the matter.
In regard to recruitment for the State services
prior consideration is and shall always be given to
the public interest and the obligation of maintaining
the efficiency of the administration at the highest
possible level can never be overlooked. There is also
no desire to follow a blind rule of percentages for
the various communities irrespective of considerations
of qualification and merit. Subject to these
conditions' the policy governing recruitment will be
such that no class or community should gain undue
predominance Al any branch of the public service and
that adequate representation is secured to duly
qualified. Hereditary State Subjects from all classes
and communities of my people. Instructions to this
effect have been recently issued and I shall watch
closely their practical execution by my officers.
I have dealt above in a brief manner with what I
conceive to be points of major importance with regard
to which some misunderstanding prevails in certain
quarters. I trust such misunderstanding will be
dispelled by this authoritative enunciation of my
beliefs and intentions with regard to these points. It
is my aim to carry on the administration in consonance
with these views in your best interests. Whenever I
have found that any of you have been led into wrong
action, I have always tried to make you see the error
of your ways and to win you over to the right path by
reasoning and conciliation. I am not a believer in
false ideas of prestige, for I hold that just action
is a sign of strength and not of weakness. But should,
God forbid, all appeal to reason fail, I must discharge
in effective manner the supreme responsibility which
rests on me for the maintenance of law and order. I
cannot chow my Government to be coerced by threat into
unjust action and it is my duty to protect the
law-abiding sections of my people from encroachments
on their lawful rights. The immediate burden of
maintaining law and order necessarily falls on the
Magistracy and the Police whose duty it will be to see
that the law is upheld at all costs, and where the law
is defied, its authority will be restored. It is the
duty of the Police to act impartially and with calm judgment
in such emergencies and I wish to assure them that
they will be supported by myself and my Government in
the due discharge of their duty and will not be
sacrificed to unjust clamour or intrigue.
In conclusion, I trust that the old policy of 'live
and let live' which characterized your relations with
each other in the past will be restored It is easy to
excite public feeling by misrepresentation, but it is
difficult to restore harmony and friendship. Do not
attribute false motives to those placed in authority
over you or to one another. As regards people outside
the State, whether Hindus or Mohammedans, I ask them
not to interfere in any way in matters concerning my
State and my people, as I do not interfere in matters
concerning British India and British Indians. The
whole basis of political action is impaired if one
political unit interferes in the domestic concerns of
another. I do not wish to claim immunity from
legitimate criticism of the acts and policies of my
Government, which, I have no hesitation in saying,
have always been designed to promote the moral and
material progress of my people. It is my duty and my
one aim in life to maintain the progressive character
of my administration. But this end is defeated by
unjustifiable outside intervention which has, within
the last few weeks, done nothing but immense harm to
the true interests of you all. I pray to God that you
will receive the light of truth and wisdom and that
you will live peacefully and happily with one another
as before.
"Sd. HARI SINGH,
G.C.I.E., K.C.V.O., A.D.C.,
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.
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